Before Starting Telemarketing

Before Starting Telemarketing You Should Take A Breath And Consider The Following

Anyone that decides to go on a journey, needs to prepare before setting out.  This concept would also apply to calling.

It is unwise to charge in to calling before considering the basic sales checklist.  Before starting telemarketing, there are a number of things that you need to do.  

We have put together some basic telemarketing advice to help.

What Do You Want To Achieve?

Firstly, you need to reflect on what you are looking for.  

Are you looking for sales leads?  More appointments?  Are you looking for sales?  How many are you looking for?  Are your expectations realistic?  

Sometimes people are looking for 10 sales leads or appointments a week with top businesses in a market that only has 100 players and they want them yesterday.  

Be realistic in your expectations and what you are aiming for.

Do You Know Who You Want To Target?

Before starting telemarketing do you have a list of prospects that you would like called?  

If not, you may need to purchase a list of prospects or ask the agency to purchase a list for you.  Data lists are not easy to put together.  

Your requirements may well be different from someone else’s.  

Some companies think that telesales companies can just produce a list of prospects out of thin air (complete with decision makers already primed for a call).  

Data needs to be purchased from a data provider that has to be GDPR compliant.

Do You Have Good Data Available

Before starting a telemarketing campaign, you need to have data available to call against.

Good telemarketing data will take a lot of the leg work out of the selling process and make the job of the calling agent a lot easier.

Marketing data can be purchased from a data broker, of which there are many in the UK to get quotes from.  This is based on industry sector, business title, company size etc.

Do You Have A Budget In Mind?

Before starting telemarketing campaigns of any sort, you need to consider costs.  Agencies do not work for free and established agencies do not work on a commission basis.  

Consider that hiring someone to work for you would probably cost around £2,000 per month (when you consider all the tax’s, recruitment etc.).  

If you need 1 days calling per week (4 per month) this could cost anything from £500 – £1000) so be realistic.  

Also, telemarketing prices vary considerably, so you will need to shop around.

What Are Your Timescales?

Cold calling does take time.  Before starting telemarketing campaigns from scratch; it takes time to research companies for the right person to talk to (purchasing manager, director, sales manager etc.).  

Then get them on the phone (as people are normally busy, out, in meetings etc.).  

From research to meeting may take anything from a few weeks to a few months – so again, you need to be realistic before approaching the agency.

Once you have considered the above things, you do need to then consider the agency you choose.  

There are over 400 lead generation companies around the UK.  So you need to choose one that has experience and a track record in your industry and is competitively priced.  

All agency prices will vary, so choosing the right one will be important if you are going to get the best results for the most affordable price.

What About A Script?

Telemarketing staff often struggle with what to say.  

Do you know how the agency should approach prospects?  How they will introduce themselves and your business.  

The telemarketing script is important and agencies cannot just magic something up.  They would either need to be advised on how to approach & introduce or they will need to create one (which they may well charge in terms of time).

The best person to sell a product is the one that owns it.  If you can provide a script, it will help a lot (it can always be modified).

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